10 Trips I’m So Glad to Have Taken (and 6 Still on My Bucket List)

I started traveling – really traveling (outside the spring break beach vaca or a childhood trip to Disney World) around 13 years ago when I was 19; most of these trips have happened in the last five years… being a college student didn’t give me much of a travel budget. When I look back on the past decade, most of my favorite memories stem from an experience on one of these trips.

Now that we have baby boy due in two months (!!), Dan and I talk a lot about how our travel adventures will look in the future and how things might change – if at all. Trying to be realistic about it. Finances will likely be the biggest strain, now that the huge additional cost of child care will be added to our annual budget. At least we assume that will be the bigger factor more so than our willingness to take long flights or travel internationally with a baby (which we’re both on board to do pending he’s ok to make said flights). Which we’re up for because we both believe it will be well worth it, introducing him to new places and experiences. And will be good for us since it’s our favorite way to bond and create memories.

In talking about the next trips we want to take once baby is here, it had me looking back at the ones I’ve been on and got me thinking about which ones REALLY stand out and why. My top ten favorite, I guess.

So here they are, in no particular order… hope to spark some wanderlust!

1. Road trip from Switzerland to the South of France, ending in Paris

CANNOT. RECOMMEND. THIS. ITINERARY. ENOUGH. I actually plan on doing a big long post about this trip one of these days… because this was arguably my favorite trip ever. It was Dan’s and my first big trip as a couple. His first big international trip in life. And it was perfect. We both got to see and experience places of the world neither of us had been.

We paraglided off a mountain in Switzerland. Swam in the Mediterranean. We hiked, we walked, we explored, we sailed. We drove. A lot. Got lost just a little bit. We road tripped through Provence and took the train up to Paris and nestled in a studio apartment in the center of St. Germain. We even ran into friends from home in Paris. Dan fell in love with Paris. And we both fell in love with Switzerland. I would do this trip over and over again if I could since there was so much to see in both Switzerland and the South of France that we didn’t get to.

2. Vietnam with my best friend

This might be the place I most want to go back to! My friend Lauren and I booked a super budget-friendly tour with a group via Travelzoo… and spent nine days traveling from Ho Chi Minh City in the South of Vietnam to the capital of Hanoi in the north, seeing Halong Bay and Hoi An and China Beach in the middle.

A super long post on this is also long overdo! Cannot recommend Vietnam enough but recommend going with a tour where your transportation is all sorted because that can get very… what is the word… complicated? Dodgy? Unreliable? around those parts!

3. Quebec City twice – the first time when we got engaged and the second time a year later

Love QC – even in the sub-zero temps! This is where we went when we got engaged! And again the following winter. And can keep going back year after year. It’s like a little European jaunt without having to cross the big blue Atlantic. Made me fall in love with Canada. 🙂

4. New Orleans – multiple times with girlfriends

New Orleans also feels like you’ve left the country. And my advice for anyone going: GET OFF BOURBON STREET! I mean… experience Bourbon Street. Properly. Embrace it for all its craziness. But then venture off! The history, the tours (I cannot recommend the Vampire tour enough!), the jazz bars, the bayou, the plantations, the restaurants, the shopping… it’s such a culturally rich city. Quite possibly my favorite American city – even though I feel like I’m not even in America when I visit!

5. Italy tour with my Nana

This is really the trip that started it all for me… my love of travel, Europe, road trips, new food, new people, new smells and sounds… exploring how people live in different parts of the world. SEEING what you read about in books right before your eyes.

I was super lucky to travel ALL around Italy with my Nana when I was 19 years old. She was going on a senior citizen tour with about 50 other 60+ somethings and needed a travel companion! I literally got the lucky ticket so to speak being the right age and place in life where my going was an option. We flew into Venice, drove up to the north along the alps, then down to the Italian Riviera, then Florence, Tuscany, Pisa, ending in Rome. It was a bit slower paced than I probably would have gone seeing as I was with my Nana, but we had such an amazing time. My favorite night was a wine tasting dinner in Tuscany at the Pucci Castle. Our table of older ladies downed 6 bottles of wine and the whole group was drunkenly belting out Frank Sinatra songs the bus ride back to the hotel. My nana passed away last year… the days following my wedding actually. We were really good buddies she and I, and I’m forever grateful for that experience with her.

6. Krakow, Poland – the Motherland

(all my photos are somewhere on an old computer)

After spending a semester abroad in London my junior year of college, I ended the trip by venturing over to Poland, then taking a train to Prague and finishing off the trip in Munich. I am 100% Polish decent – fun fact: Chicago has the largest Polish population outside of Poland. So this was really amazing to visit the motherland, so to speak. I only got to spend two days or so in Krakow. Nicest people. Super affordable. Walkable. Great history. Great food. Ten pierogis cost like $2 or something crazy. I loved it and definitely recommend!

We also visited Auschwitz and Birkenau concentration camps which were… awful. And chilling. And surreal. Standing there and realizing how not long ago the atrocities of WWII and the Holocaust happened. You can read about it in books and watch movies but seeing it in person was just beyond.

7. Central China with my sister

This was a trip that I didn’t realize how much I loved while I was on it. I will say there were tears at points. Please note: we went to CENTRAL China. The majority of the trip was not the postcard version of Beijing and Hong Kong you usually see from fellow China voyagers. I was… 23 years old I think?

We landed in Hong Kong, only to be directed to a secret (local) terminal in the basement that looks nothing like “international Hong Kong Airport” then put on a shuttle out to a tiny plane filled with Chinese residents and us.

We arrived in Chongqing, traveled the countryside and made our way to Chengdu. No one spoke English and if my friend who had been living there for a year hadn’t met us, the trip would’ve been impossible for us. Literally, because of the language barrier. Locals kept taking my photo because they had never seen anyone with blond hair. (If you’ve seen me which I am guessing you have, you know that I do not have blond hair by Western standards.)

When we ended the trip in Beijing for two days before flying home, I felt like I was in New York City it felt so modern and “Western” compared to where we’d been. But we hiked a mountain, slept in a Buddhist monastery, saw lots and lots of Pandas, ate traditional hot pot in the Sichuan Province (including trying duck blood. Yes. Duck blood – cooked) and I visited two cities most people I know have never been to… it was really amazing. I took me a year to pay my sister back for that plane ticket – and it was so worth it.

8. Austria with Dan

Love Austria. Along with Switzerland – the Alps are arguably my favorite part of Europe aside from the Mediterranean coastal cities. Austria was just WAY more affordable than Switzerland – so yay! We LOVED Vienna and LOVED the magical mountainside town of Halstatt.

9. Whitefish, MT

This one might come as a surprise but little ole’ Whitefish, Montana and the surrounding areas – and nearby Glacier National Park – honestly gave me a love for the outdoors at the ripe ole’ age of 30 that I had never experienced before! I loved adventuring out and exploring in the outdoor activities, visiting the Park, seeing the gorgeous landscapes, learning about hiking and camping – truly, I’d never done it before! – and now I much more excited about visiting more destinations like that with my boys!

10. Sonoma, CA – multiple times with different people

I mean… hello! It’s wine country! I love it so much it’s where we got married! Combine my love of wine with Sonoma’s unique culture and joie de vivre? It’s absolutely inspiring – and not to mention breathtakingly beautiful. I can go back over and over and never tire of it. Definitely one of those places I feel like home.

Love this bucket list! Travel lots of with your baby while he’s young (it’s much easier). We took our daughter to Spain at 2 months, Hong Kong at 6 months at the age of 3, she’s never spent a birthday at home (1st and 2nd birthdays were in NYC, 3rd in Paris and we’re doing her 4th in Rome). I really regret not traveling more before the 1 year mark (she was nearly impossible between 1-2.5).

Would love to hear more about your road trip through Switzerland and France. Plus, I’m 100% biased but you should add New Zealand to your wish list – best part of the world without a doubt. 😘
Really enjoy your blog!

I’m from Montreal (Quebec) and I was so happy to see QC city made de list!! Absolutely love it. You should make a trip to Montreal as well, the Old Port has that european vibe too and the art scene is wonderful. I now live in Kelowna, British Columbia (OH CANADA!!) and I feel like you’d love it there too!! If you do end up doing a western canada tour, definitely go through Vancouver island (tofino, victoria), Vancouver, Whistler, Squamish and Kelowna! Then keep driving east towards banff 🙂 You will not regret it! The views are unreal.

I took my first big trip by myself at 20 to London and Paris. I had always wanted to travel but never had the means. The older I get, the more I try to prioritize vacations with my husband! Plus I have serious wanderlust… I love that you are planning on taking baby boy along for the ride. I want to do the same when I have children someday and cultivate my love of experiences. I can’t wait to see what you have to say about future trips with your boys!

My favorite spot in the whole world (so far) is the Scottish Highlands. Perfect mix of beautiful old buildings in the cities, with rugged, wild outdoors, and the friendliest and most fun people. Heading there for the 3rd time this summer with my whole family.

I did Paris and Italy in college, backpacking style – I would love to go back and spend more time and do more than my previous budget had allowed. I’d also love to see the south of France, and Spain, and Portugal. I studied abroad at Cambridge, England so that always holds a special place.

Vancouver is an incredible city, I really love Canada. Opposite of you I need to head east and check out Toronto/Montreal/Quebec!

Really interested in hearing more about your trips! Particularly Vietnam, New Orleans, and Quebec City. They sound amazing but I’d be interested to have a bit more info – what things you’d recommend doing / what your favourite things were.

We spent two weeks in Patagonia (Argentina and Chile). The absolute most jaw dropping place ever. There is also something so magical about how untouched it all is – just the best. If you ever need an intinerary, I have a VERY in depth one 🙂

So fun to read!! I haven’t been a lot of places yet outside of Mexico, the Caribbean, and the US. But we’re finally at a place where this can be an option and we’re just discussing where to go first last night at dinner. My bucket list outside of the US: New Zealand, Ireland, London, Italy, South of France and Paris!

I was lucky to travel a ton in High School as a member of Team USA. I went to Prague, Finland, Germany and Switzerland before graduating HS! In college I got to go to Crotia and then my next big trip was with my husband for our one year anniversary! We are going to NOLA this week with our 2 1/2 year old. Super excited! 🙂

Couldn’t agree more on New Orleans. I loved it from the time I was 6 years old and almost went to college there (but ended up in Boston somehow… quite different!). My favorite trip is similar to the one you took with Dan through France but my husband and I did Italy. I would go back over and over. Wine country is at the top of my list as is Hawaii even though it’s a little cliche.

I spent many summers in Switzerland, and I have many (many many) happy memories from my time there. I haven’t been back in years though! Might be time to plan a visit! Loved seeing your pics…like a walk down memory lane for me!

I just came back and reread this post a second time, it’s so inspiring!! I just got back from a trip to California to reconnect with family and am planning a longer trip to Mexico City this summer. I love how travel and connecting with others on the road can fill your heart!